


Borderline

by Lakritzwolf



Category: Being Human (UK), The Almighty Johnsons
Genre: Heartache, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Pain
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-14
Updated: 2015-09-14
Packaged: 2018-04-20 18:30:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,172
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4797893
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lakritzwolf/pseuds/Lakritzwolf
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Written for the <a href="http://gatheringfiki.tumblr.com/post/127826595685/summer-fandom-raffle-exchange-prompts-masterlist">Summer Raffle Fandom Exchange</a>  on tumblr<br/>Prompt 84: The one promise he said he’d never break.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Borderline

**Author's Note:**

> [Borderline](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNr3FxLbLPc), by Chris de Burgh

  
  


* * *

When Anders came home from work he thought Mitchell wasn’t at home. The flat was dark and silent, no lights, no sounds indicating the presence of Mitchell. It gave him a heart attack when he switched on the lights to find him sit on the floor under the window, knees drawn up, arms slung around them, head fallen forward and wild curls obscuring his face.

“Mitch... what the actual fuck?”

Mitchell slowly lifted his head and Anders immediately dropped everything, keys, phone, jacket, and hurried towards him to fall onto his knees beside him. “John... what...”  
Mitchell wiped a hand down his face, staring at the wetness on his fingers. “It’s March 11th.”  
“It is,” Anders gave back hesitantly. “Did I forget something?”  
“No.” The ghost of a smile appeared on Mitchell’s face. “No. You didn’t. And neither did I.”  
“I’m afraid I don’t quite follow.”

Mitchell looked straight ahead, and another tear trickled down his cheek. “I made a promise, Anders. A long time ago, I made a promise that I didn’t keep.”  
“On Marth 11th?”  
“Not directly.” His fingers clenched and unclenched as Mitchell swallowed and shook his head. “I... I promised I would come back to her.”  
Anders let himself slide down to sit beside Mitchell, back against the wall.  
“I know.” Mitchell swallowed and shook his head once. “I never talked about her before. It’s because it hurts so fucking much.”  
Anders sat silently, looking at the man beside him. 

“Look,” Mitchell said, suddenly trying to sound calm and cool and trying to brush it off. “Just forget it. Guy like me is bound to become sentimental every now and then.”  
“Like fuck I will,” Anders gave back gently. “I... look. We gave each other a promise, remember? No lies. And you’re getting pretty close to that now, John. Don’t tell me it’s nothing, because it sure as fuck isn’t.”  
“I’m sorry.” Mitchell’s voice broke and he dropped his head again. “I’m so fucking sorry.” His breath hitched. “I made so many promises and broke almost all of them.”

Anders rested a hand between Mitchell’s shoulder blades.

“I promised me mum, and I promised Neve I would take care of meself.” A chocked sob. “I promised to come home, and I never did. I couldn’t!”  
“No, you couldn’t.”  
“But I promised! I promised and I broke it!”  
“It’s not as if you had a choice about it, John.” Anders scooted a little closer, but Mitchell moved away as quickly, leaving the distance gaping between them. 

“Anders, I made so many promises in my fucked up life that I broke. But this...” He finally looked up, the pain in his eyes and the wetness on his cheeks making him look like a martyr. “I have to keep this. I promised I’d come home to her, and I broke it. But then I promised I’d never forget her. I loved her so much; Anders, I’m sorry to... I promised no lies, just as you said. But I loved her so much and I wanted to come home to her and...” He wiped a hand across his face. “It hurts so fucking much. But I have to... I can’t let go, Anders.”  
“I never said you should.” 

Mitchell let his head drop against the wall and stared at the ceiling. Anders watched him in silence. 

“She promised me to wait. I promised to come back. I didn’t.”  
“Really, John... you had no choice,” Anders said after a pause.  
“I know.” Mitchell brushed a few curls from his face that immediately fell down again. “But I should have. I could have. I could have gone back and told her I...”  
“You what?” Anders interrupted him gently. “Tell her you’d been turned into a vampire? Or that you’d rather not be with her anymore? I can see you hurt and why, but honestly... I think the way it happened hurt her less than this would have.”  
“And don’t I know that!” Mitchell spat, only to immediately droop again:” Shit. Fuck, I’m sorry, Anders...”

Anders put a hand on his arm, and this time, Mitchell let him.

“You know what happened to her?”  
“She married.” Mitchell closed his eyes. “Four years after the war she married my best friend. He was one of the men of... of the men that I...”  
“That you saved.” Anders closed his fingers around Mitchell’s arm. “It’s okay to call it that.”  
Mitchell shrugged and wiped the back of his hand across his nose. 

Anders slowly uncurled his fingers, watching as Mitchell stared at nothing, lips parted, a fresh flood of tears breaking free from his eyes. “They named their firstborn son John.” His voice finally broke and a hoarse sob broke free from his chest. “She promised me she wouldn’t forget me while I was away...” He chocked out a sob. “And she didn’t. She made sure she never would!” Another sob, and Mitchell wiped his hand across his eyes again. “And I swear I will not break the last promise I gave her! I promised I will never forget her either and I swear I never will!” Mitchell closed his eyes with another sob while burying his fingers in his hair.

“Of course you won’t,” Anders said in a low voice.  
After a moment, Mitchell opened his eyes again and slowly turned his head to look at him.  
“She must have been something,” Anders said with a soft, small smile. “What was she like?”  
Mitchell swallowed hard, but then a small, sad smile made it through his tears. “She was like a wildfire. Red hair, flashing green eyes, a temper to light a forge. I never understood why she would choose a guy like me.”  
Anders carefully reached out and took one of Mitchell’s hands, intertwining their fingers. “She obviously had a good taste in men.”  
Mitchell shook his head, the ghost of his smile still there. “She danced with me. The harvest was in, and the young folk were having a ceilidh. She came to me and took me hand and I was lost.”  
Anders ran his thumb across the back of Mitchell’s hands, watching his smile and his tears.  
“We wanted to get married, but then I got called into service. I asked if we should speed things along, but she said she’d wait for me.”

Mitchell fell silent, and there was no need to ask what had happened. He knew why Mitchell had never come home. 

“I swore upon her grave I would never forget her, Anders. I’m sorry, I know this must hurt you, I think a part of me will always love her. But...”  
“Hey.” Anders tugged at the hand he was holding, and Mitchell hesitantly looked up at him. “What hurts me is see you hurt that much.”

Mitchell’s eyes lost their focus. “When I finally dared to come home it was so long after the war that hardly anyone was alive to remember me. But gossip never dies, you know, not in the Irish countryside. I asked around a bit because I couldn’t find her grave at first. That’s how I know she got married to Liam.” Mitchell was looking at Anders, but Anders was sure he wasn’t seeing him. “I told people I was a distant cousin and doing some genealogy. Told them I couldn’t find any information about a John Mitchell. I don’t know if you have any idea of how old crones in the Irish countryside can be. I think I learned more about me and me family in that single afternoon than in my entire life.” A crooked smile tugged at his lips. And it stayed there even when the tears came back. “Told me about her and everything. Apparently she’d been waiting for four years after I was reported dead if I wouldn’t come home to her after all.” His voice broke again. “Was them that told me she named her first born after me. And that she kept lighting a candle for me on my birthday.” Mitchell covered his face in his hands and sobbed. “Every year... until she died...”

Anders let go of Mitchell’s hand and moved closer, closing both arms around Mitchell before the latter had a chance to move away again. It wasn’t often that Mitchell tore up like this, and like with everything he did, once he let go he did so with every inch of his heart and soul. Anders did the only thing he could. He held on for dear life and let him get it all out.

It was almost midnight when Mitchell was finally able to pick himself up from the floor again. He stood there, looking lost and forlorn and vulnerable, with his red and swollen eyes and drooping shoulders.

“Come on,” Anders said and chucked Mitchell his coat.  
“It’s late,” Mitchell gave back, but put it on without hesitation.  
“I know. But I need air, and so do you. Let’s go for a walk and then you can tell me all about her.”

Anders smiled, and Mitchell was able to smile back.

The night was cool and silent. And while Mitchell didn’t care one way or another where they would be going, Anders seemed to have a clear idea of their destination. 

Mitchell ground out the cigarette end under his heel. “The fuck are we doing here?”  
“Just hang on, Mitch. I’ll only be a second.”

Anders could feel Mitchell’s eyes bore into his back as he entered the small chapel, the one place he could never follow.

An elderly lady was sitting in the front row, looking up at the altar and the cross with a relaxed and peaceful expression. Anders fished a coin out of his pocket and bought one of the small candles and then stood in silence for a while, the candle clasped in his hands before him. 

“Would you like me to pray with you?” The voice of the woman was gentle and kind. Anders looked up and found her smile at him.  
“I am not exactly the praying kind, but thank you.” He rolled his shoulders. “I’m here on behalf of a friend. He... he made someone a promise not to forget them. The one promise he said he’d never break. And I want to help him keep it.”  
“That is very kind and generous of you.” The face that Anders initially had believed to be ugly was, in fact, an amazing array of smile wrinkles. She got up and stood beside him, pointing at the candles. “I can say the prayer for you if you want,” she said. “Who is it for?”

“Her name was Neve Callaghan. Born and died in Balbriggan, Ireland.”  
She gestured at Anders to light the candle, and as he did so, she spoke a soft prayer, asking the Lord to take care of the soul of Neve Callaghan who had lived and died on the other side of the world and more than a lifetime ago.

Anders thanked the kind lady with a nod and looked at the candle for a moment. “Hello, Neve,” he whispered. “John says hi. He’s a little worse for wear these days, but I promise I’ll take good care of him.”

With that, and another nod at the kind old lady, he left the chapel again. Mitchell was waiting outside for him outside, leaning against a tree with his arms crossed before him. 

“Why did you do that,” he whispered hoarsely as Anders had reached him.  
“Do what?”  
“What you did in there.” Mitchell didn’t make any attempts at wiping his tears away. “Vampire senses. I heard every word.”

Anders bit his upper lip for a moment. “Neve,” he said then. “She lit a candle for you on your birthday every year. And with the way you looked when you told me that, I thought you would have liked to do that too, only you can’t, for apparent reasons. So yeah... Just as I said. You have that one promise you said you’ll never break and I want to help you keep it.”  
Mitchell swallowed, more tears streaming down his cheeks.  
“And you can help me keep mine,” Anders said softly and stepped closer. He slipped his arms through Mitchell’s to get through the wall of crossed arms separating them and rested his head against the taller man’s shoulder. “I promised to take care of you. And that is the one promise I’ll never break. You just have to let me.”

Mitchell closed his arms around Anders with a soft sob, and both clung to each other, hidden from the pale light of the street lamp by the shadow of the tree, their silhouettes becoming one in the darkness.

* * *

  
_And it's breaking my heart, I know what I must do,_  
_I hear my country call me, but I want to be with you,_  
_I'm taking my side, one of us will lose,_  
_Don't let go, I want to know,_  
_That you will wait for me until the day,_  
_There's no borderline, no borderline,_  
_No borderline, no borderline..._  



End file.
